Pens vs. Rangers Game 1: All the King's Men, Couldn't Stop Sid and Geno Again

The Pittsburgh Penguins won Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against the New York Rangers in stunning fashion.  The goaltender battle that was the biggest hype by media members and fellow bleacher writers surprisingly fell by the wayside.  Neither goaltender mimicked his first round performance tonight, but it was King Henry who gave up the final tally of the game: a Sidney Crosby slapshot that deflected into the net off of the shin pad of Evgeni Malkin.

Recap

Early in the game, all indications were that King Henry would silence the Penguins' potent offensive attack, as Lundqvist stopped 8 of 8 early shots from the Pens. On the back side of the halfway mark of the first period, Ryan Whitney headed to the box for high sticking. On the ensuing power play, former Penguin Marty Straka got the puck below the goal line, wristed it toward the front of the net, and a fortuitous bounce off the skate blade of Sergei Gonchar made it 1-0 Rangers. The first period would end 1-0, with Lundqvist looking very solid between the pipes.

Early in the second, things began to look gloomier for Pens' fans. Chris Drury deflected a Marc Staal slap shot from the point past Marc-Andre Fleury. Official Ron Koharski got on the horn with the War Room in Toronto to review the goal. The replay was inconclusive, and the goal counted. 2-0 Rangers.

Sean GAYvery added his fourth goal of the playoffs, about a minute and a half later, making it 3-0 Rangers. Avery streaked down the right wing, used Brooks Orpik as a screen on Fleury, and buried a wrist shot into the back of the cage. Before celebrating with his teammates, Avery paused near the far boards to give the VOGUE photographers in the front row a good shot of his stunning physique.

Then, something happened. VERSUS broadcaster Joe Beninati gave the Penguins their first glimpse of hope.

J.B: "The Penguins have never come back from a 3 goal deficit to win a game this season."

Somewhere, Gary Thorne falls out of his lazyboy and endures four consecutive seizures.

The Pens responded, as Jarkko Ruutu shuffled a puck toward the front of the net, off of Michael Rozsival's skate, and behind Lundqvist. 3-1 Rangers.

The Penguins have had a reputation of scoring consecutive goals very quickly throughout the season, and tonight was no different. Just 14 seconds removed from Ruutu's tally, Sidney Crosby whipped a wicked backhand pass to the front of the net, onto the stick of Pascal Dupuis. Dupuis put it where grandma keeps the peanut butter: top shelf. 3-2 Rangers.

Both goaltenders stood their ground, and the second frame ended 3-2 in favor of the Blueshirts.

Early in the third period, Pascal Dupuis found himself more alone in front of the Rangers' net than Sean Avery at a heterosexual affairs meeting in downtown NYC. Dupuis fumbled the puck under his feet, and Lundqvist was able to make the save. (Colby Armstrong buries that puck.)

The Pens kept coming, and were rewarded when Marian Hossa threw a puck toward the net that went through the skates of Gomez and beat Lundqvist to tie the game at 3.The Pens once again acted quickly on their new found momentum, scoring just 20 seconds later as Evgeni Malkin setup an easy tap-in for Petr Sykora. 4-3 Pens.

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